What’s this? The Cowboys and Packers in a battle to determine the No. 2 team in the NFL behind New England? I wonder who drew that one up in the marketing room.

The Indianapolis Colts are sitting there at 7-1 on the Super Bowl futures market, just begging to be picked. This is a team that came very, very close to beating the Patriots, even with injuries on offense. Those players are working their way back into the lineup – players like Tony Ugoh, Anthony Gonzalez, and looking toward the playoffs, Marvin Harrison. It seems likely we’ll see the Colts and Pats lock horns again in the AFC Championship.

Naturally, the Pats have proven themselves not only the best team in the NFL over the course of the regular season, but one of the best ever assembled. That doesn’t make them a good bet at 1-4. Wouldn’t you rather take Indy at 28 times the potential earnings?